Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Peel school board’s Muslim support fuels hate, threats

During a Peel District School Board meeting on April 12, a supporter ofreligious accommodations wears a t-shirt with the saying ‘Respect existenceor expect resistance.’

Tensions over a suburban Toronto school board providing space for Muslim students to pray as a group every Friday have bubbled into a death threat and an online call to burn down a mosque.

Ibrahim Hindy, an imam in Mississauga, said he received an e-mail on Friday with a death threat that included a picture of men being hanged. He also received a message on social media that called the mosque “one of many satan safe houses that need to be burned to the ground.”

Mr. Hindy said he contacted police, who promised patrols around his home and the mosque. A spokesman for Peel Regional Police said he could not immediately provide further information.

Mr. Hindy is a member of the Peel District School Board’s multifaith group, which meets four times a year and advises educators on how to accommodate students on significant faith days.

Anti-Muslim rhetoric has intensified in the area in recent months over schools providing space for prayer. Some residents in this quiet suburban community, west of Toronto, have been left shaken and concerned for their safety. (more...)